Page 11 of Library Lovers

I’m standing on Ava’s front porch at three minutes to eleven. I’ve been ready since I texted her this morning, but I’m nothing if not patient. Well, kind of. I did wait all these years to stake my claim on her, but now that I have, I’m finding I just want to skip to the next part. The part where we move in together and start building our lives as a couple.

At precisely eleven, I raise my fist and knock.

“I’m coming!” Ava calls from the other side of the timber door.

Sliding my hands in my pockets, I rock back on my heels as I wait. Two minutes pass without another word from her, and I’m about to wrap my knuckles against the door again when she swings it open and knocks the breath right out of my lungs.

A purple dress hugs her delicious curves, accentuating her breasts and hips. And those damn heels… they drive me crazy. But it’s the look in her brilliant blue gaze that has me struggling to breathe.

“Hey,” she says so softly its barely above a whisper. So out of character for the fireball standing before me.

Ava is not a quiet wallflower, never has been, the complete opposite in fact. A total ballbuster since she could talk.

She gleams up at me, and warmth spreads through my entire body, causing my lips to tick up in a smile of my own as I offer her my elbow and ask, “Ready?”

Her small hand slides into the curve of my arm as she steps outside then reaches back to close the door behind her. “As I’ll ever be,” she mumbles quietly as we step off the porch.

After leading her over to the passenger side of my car, I open the door for her and wait until she’s situated before rounding the hood and getting in.

“Where are we going?” she asks as we pull out of her street.

I grin and cast her a quick glance as I drive. “It’s a surprise.”

Her brows bunch adorably as she frowns, clearly not liking my answer. “I don’t like surprises,” she grumbles. “Besides, I need to text Margo and let her know where I’ll be just in case this is all an elaborate prank for you to murder me. She’ll be able to tell the police you’re the last person I was with and have a location to give them.”

My head whips toward her, a glare in place. I thought she believed me. But the smirk on her pretty face settles my nerves immediately. “Funny,” I mutter.

She chuckles, “I thought so.”

I shake my head and roll my eyes.

A few minutes later, I pull into the parking lot of our old junior high, and Ava gives me a skeptical look. “What are we doing here?”

Instead of answering, I get out, retrieve the picnic basket Miss Perky from the raunchy bookstore-café in town put together for me, then open Ava’s door. She looks up at me, so many questions in her eyes, but she takes my hand and follows me into the school grounds.

I lead her to the library, pull out the keys I procured earlier in the week when I was formulating this masterful plan, and let us inside. Ava’s hand tightens in mine as I navigate us to the fiction section, where I’ve already cleared an area for us, and filled it with vases of red roses.

Ava’s breath catches in her throat, and it bolsters my confidence. I knew this was the right play to show her how I really feel. Placing the picnic basket on the floor, I pull out a blanket and lay it in the center of the roses, then I turn back to face her.

She’s gnawing on the edge of her bottom lip, her hands clenched in the fabric of her pretty dress, her eyes glassy.

“Come sit with me,” I say, extending a hand toward her.

Her trembling fingers find mine, and I tug her down onto the blanket. She tucks her legs beneath her beautifully round butt, and I give her fingers a reassuring squeeze.

“Why did you bring me here?” she asks.

This is it.

I rub my thumb over the back of her hand in soothing circles and tell her my truth. “Because this is where I first knew, without a shadow of doubt, that I loved you. And regardless of where our lives took us, I’d come for you. No matter what.”

Her breath hitches and one tear, followed by another and another, track down her cheeks. I move in closer and press my lips to her tears, kissing them away until our mouths find each other’s.

Pulling back, I tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “You used to spend so much time in here. When I’d get sick of the guys I’d come to this very spot, knowing you’d be here. Sometimes I wouldn’t even say anything, believe it or not. I’d hover around over there and watch you reading.” I point to the next row of shelves, and she frowns.

Smoothing out the little lines between her furrowed brow, I grin at her. “I’m aware it was kinda creepy. But in a sweet way, right?”

Ava snorts back a laugh. “How did I not notice that?”

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